- THE RETURN OF RAMPAGE

by MMAWeekly Radio & Jeff Cain
Quinton “Rampage” Jackson gets prepared to take on Hirotaka Yokoi at Pride 30 on October 23rd. Jackson is coming off a loss, and has lost two of his last three matches. Yokoi is coming off three loses in a row, but they were as a heavyweight. Quinton spoke with MMAWeekly about his upcoming bout, his Pride contract, his training, and his future.

Since losing in the first round of the Pride middleweight grand prix to Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, rumors about Quinton Jackson’s status with Pride, and whether or not he would be coming to the UFC have been swirling. Jackson informed MMAWeekly that he’s still under contract with Pride contrary to earlier reports. He has two fights left on his current contract. He said, “I could either fight these two fights or I could wait for February. That’s what it was. My manager is very wise. He decided that I should go ahead and fight these two fights. Get the warm up fights, and if Pride decides to pick it up then I stay there, but if Pride don’t want me no more, somebody else wants me, then who ever has the most Cheddar that’s where I go because Cheddar makes it better.”

When Jackson was asked who he was fighting on October 23rd, he commented, “Some Japanese dude with a funny name.” Quinton confirmed that his opponent will be Hirotaka Yokoi. Discussing Yokoi and what he brings to the table, Jackson said, “He’s quick. He’s got a lot of energy, and he’s Japanese. They die hard. You know? They fight for different reasons than what we fight for. I fight for a paycheck. They fight for honor and respect. You know what I’m saying? I think mine’s more stronger than his because if I win I get more money.”

What if Quinton loses this fight? Will he be brought back for his final fight on his contract or will he be let go? “Rampage” commented, “Man if I lose this fight I’m going to kick my own ass.” Questioned about what he’s learned from his loses, Jackson replied, “I learned that when I lose I get my butt kicked. When I win I be doing the butt kicking, and most times I lose it’s because I’m not 100%. That’s not making excuses, because I don’t train hard, or something like this, or I’m not focused. That’s the bottom line. I think that if I’m 100%, which is almost impossible. A lot of fighters aren’t 100%, but if I’m close to it, I bet I can fight anybody out there.”

Jackson has made wholesale changes in his training over the past several months. He’s no longer with Colin Oyama. He’s sought out different training partners like Randy Couture, Frank Trigg, Karo Parisyan, James Irvin, Tito Ortiz, Jason “Mayhem” Miller, and others. “God’s really blessed me with some good training partners now. If I can keep it up, if I can keep good training partners around me, I’m going to be on top like last time, like before. Part of my problem was after Team Punishment broke up I had no training partners. I’m not down with a team. I don’t care about being on a team. I just want training partners. That’s what the most important thing is.” Quinton told MMAWeekly.

Closing out the interview Quinton Jackson said, “I think this fight is going to be a good fight. Win or lose I’m going to put down some exciting stuff for y’all. I’ve been working on a lot of different stuff.” Quinton also has a new website. For more information on Quinton Jackson go to www.rampagemma.com.